DOWNS, Elaine A. (STUDER)

STUDER, DOWNS, HAVERLY, REISING, BAKER, KELCH, YOUNG, HAIDEN, JARVIS, GERDES, FUNK

Posted By: Sharon R Becker (email)
Date: 11/7/2016 at 11:44:07

Obituary ~ Elaine A. (Studer) Downs
October 18, 1919 ~ May 10, 2001

The Globe Gazette
Mason City, Cerro Gordo County, Iowa
May 13, 2001

MASON CITY - Elaine A. Downs, 81, of Mason City, died Thursday (May 10, 2001) at the Muse Norris Hospice Inpatient Unit in Mason City.

A funeral mass will be held at 10:30 a.m. today at St. Joseph's Catholic Church, 302 Fifth St. S.E. in Mason City with Father Carl Ries officiating. Burial will be at 2:30 p.m. in the St. Joseph's Catholic Cemetery in Wesley, Iowa, with Father Dan Greving officiating.

Visitation was held on Friday at the Hogan-Bremer Colonial Chapel, 126 Third St. N.E. in Mason City. A scriptural wake service was held Friday evening at Hogan-Bremer Colonial Chapel.

The family of Elaine Downs has requested that memorial contributions be made to St. Joseph's Catholic Church in Mason City.

Elaine A. (Studer) Downs was born on Oct. 18, 1919, in Wesley, Iowa, in Kossuth County, the daughter of Alphonse and Isabelle (Haverly) Studer. She received her education in Wesley parochial and public schools.

On Dec. 27, 1937, Elaine was united in marriage to Edward Downs at St. Joseph's Catholic Church in Wesley. The couple made their home in Wesley until 1965 when they moved to Mason City. Edward passed away in 1967.

Elaine attended Hamilton College in Mason City to further her education. She worked at Gildner's for some time and then became a marketing researcher for Nielson's Rating Company.

Elaine was a choir member from her youth, and she played the organ for Mass for 20 years at Wesley, Iowa. Music was her life as she sang in the Farm Bureau Chorus in Algona, and also in the Sweet Adelines.

She was a lifelong member of the Catholic Daughters of the Americas, a member of St. Cecilia's Guild, and Mason City Senior Citizens. She also enjoyed playing card games including bridge, canasta, and 500.

Those left to cherish her memory are her children, Sharlene Reising and her husband, Jim, of Garner, Douglas Downs and his wife, Diane, of Eagan, Minn., Sylvia Baker and her husband, Art, of Lakeview, Ark., and Dan Downs and his wife, Janet, of Mt. Vernon, Wash.; 13 grandchildren, Jeffrey, Jerry, Nancy, Rhonda, David, Dean, Dennis, Brent, Sara, Rob, Angela, Elaina, and Christian; 17 great-grandchildren; five sisters, Phyllis Kelch, of Prairie du Chein, Wis., Rita Young, of Garner, Mae Haiden and her husband, Richard, of Mason City, Julie Jarvis of Derby, Kan., and Rose Gerdes of Britt ; one brother, Gerald Studer and his wife, Kitty, of Mason City; a special friend, Frank Funk, of Mason City; and many nieces, nephews, and friends.

She was preceded in death by her parents and her husband.

Hogan-Bremer Colonial Chapel (641) 423-2372.

Transcription by Sharon R. Becker, November of 2016